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Sarsour plays victim after backlash over slamming Israeli rescue efforts in Miami

Sarsour deleted the offensive tweet, but rather than apologize, she claimed that she had been victimized on the site.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

After promoting a tweet slamming the IDF for helping rescue efforts at the site of the condo collapse in Florida, prominent Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour announced that she would be taking a break from Twitter.

Her dramatic exit from the social media platform comes after she reposted a tweet from far-left activist Rafael Shimunov, which drew ire from Twitter users.

“I really don’t understand the IDF’s involvement in rescue attempts of people tragically crushed under buildings in Miami. Their expertise is crushing buildings with people in them, not rescuing them,” read the tweet.

Sarsour posted the tweet on her page with two emojis pointing down at the message, conveying her approval.

The message quickly sparked backlash as rescue efforts remain underway to recover the bodies of upwards of 100 people who are still unaccounted for.

She deleted the tweet, but rather than apologize, she claimed that she had been victimized on the site.

“I’ll be back in a few days. This site is a place where those with no morals or values can take someone’s tweet & claim higher ground with no reflection or retrospection on the atrocities and injustice they support on a daily basis,” wrote Sarsour.

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B’nai B’rith International said it was “outraged” by Sarsour’s tweet in a statement, saying that it fueled anti-Semitic hatred.

“We are outraged by a tweet from political activist Rafael Shimunov questioning the IDF’s rescue efforts in Surfside, Florida…We are equally disgusted by anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour’s amplification of this message,” said President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin.

“This horrific statement comes as families are mourning the loss of loved ones and hoping for miracles in the tragic building collapse that still has 113 missing in the rubble.

“The tweet is not only deeply insensitive but anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic. A people that, sadly, has had to deal with bombs from Palestinian terrorists is now told it has the temerity to help people in Florida based on their own tragic experience.”

Sarsour, who has publicly praised anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, has a long history of making incendiary and inaccurate remarks on the platform.